Tag Archives: computers

Jaws (but not the shark)!

I am registered blind which in my case means that I’m not able to read print. I can, however see outlines of objects and I turn the lights on when it is dark otherwise I tend to bang into things! I’m often asked by people who are unfamiliar with visual impairment how I access technology, consequently I thought that the below post might be of interest to people who have had no (or very limited contact) with blind and partially sighted people.

My Sony Vio laptop is equipped with software called Jaws which interprets what is on my PC’s screen and reads it back to me in speech and braille. I don’t use a mouse but rely on keyboard shortcuts some of which are unique to users of the Jaws software. For example in order to bring up a list of links on a webpage I press insert f7. This key combination produces a list of links which I can cursor through. When Jaws reads a link which I wish to activate I press the return/enter key to select it and Jaws reads the webpage. Again in order to bring up a list of headings the Jaws user activates insert F7. He/she is then able to cursor through the list of headings displayed on the webpage. As a child I was taught to touch type using a quirty keyboard which has stood me in good stead when using computers.

The world of technology can be a frustrating one for users of screenreading software such as Jaws. For instance many captchas (the visual puzzles which the PC user must solve in order to send contact forms etc) are inaccessible to Jaws and similar software. Jaws sees an image which it is unable to interpret. Ah there are audible captchas I hear you say. Indeed there are, however many of these are virtually impossible to solve due to the background noise which distorts the words being read. Again some sites do not even employ audio alternatives to visual captchas meaning that visually impaired computer users either give up in frustration or are forced to rely on the assistance of family and friends.

There is a very useful Firefox plug-in known as Webvisum which is designed to make the lives of visually impaired Firefox users much easier. One particularly useful feature of Webvisum is the ability to send a captcha electronically and have it solved. This isn’t 100 percent effective, however it does, in my experience work in the majority of instances. I’ve no idea how the Webvisum plug-in performs this magic trick but it is certainly a godsend for me and other visually impaired people.

One of my passions in life is reading. As a child I devoured braille books and spent hours listening to talking books provided by the RNIB’s Talking Book Library. The problem with braille books is that they are very bulky (The New Oxford Book of English Verse is comprised of 10 braille volumes and takes up quite a bit of space on my bookshelves). In addition only a tiny percentage of books produced in print are available to readers of braille. Talking Books are wonderful but, again only a comparatively small amount of the books available to readers of print make it onto this format.

The introduction of Amazon’s keyboard Kindle has greatly enhanced the ability of the visually impaired to access the same books as their non visually impaired family and friends. By activating the Kindle’s text to speech facility it is possible to have the latest crime thriller read aloud to you.

While things are by no means perfect from the point of view of blind technology users the advent of access software and it’s incorporation into mainstream products such as Apple’s I-Pad (Voiceover) continues to enhance the lives of the visually impaired.

(For my online novel, Samantha please visit https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/09/samantha-part-1/. For my book, The Girl At The Bus Stop And Other Erotic Short Stories, available on Amazon in the Kindle Store please see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/my-books/.

is this an epub file that I see before me?!

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I’ve written previously regarding the difficulties I have encountered when attempting to open the epub file containing the proof of my book, “The First Time”, (see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/05/doing-battle/). I was beginning to think that the fault lay with me (impossible because I am faultless and, of course modest to boot)! However I’ve since received several e-mails from recipients of my book, “The First Time” stating that they have found it impossible to open the epub file.

Fortunately my friend Jeff knows more about technology than I have had hot dinners and pointed me to the following Firefox add-on which enables the user to open and read epub files using the Firefox browser https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/epubreader/. Thanks to Jeff I’m now able to read my book and other epub files. I’d certainly recommend this free add-on!

No Spam Please I Prefer Ham

DOING BATTLE

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On 3 December I wrote about the feeling of wellbeing which floods my being whenever I do battle with the great god of technology, (see https://newauthoronline.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/the-joys-of-technology/). In that post I waxed lyrical on the joys of playing that old favourite of a game, guess the password and of how the great god of technology won and prevented me from accessing the proof of my book, “The First Time” due to my inability to guess the password required to view the epub file. Well I have a confession to make, while doing battle with the epub file of “The First Time” my addled brain failed to register the fact that the document was in zip format and therefore required unzipping prior to me being able to view it’s contents. To be fair to myself I half registered this fact, however I vaguely supposed that opening the document with Adobe’s epub software would somehow magically lead to it’s unzipping. I know, I know K should be consigned to the back of the class to stand in the corner with a dunce’s cap on his head!

I’ve now installed 7-zip (a tool for unzipping files), however I’m still unable to unzip the darned thing! I’ve called in the assistance of my old friend Jeff who’s experience in computers far exceeds my own. It is a wise man who knows when the great god of technology has beaten him and so I retire blooded and beaten from the field of battle. I’m off now to lie down in a darkened room with a wet towel over my head.

empty vessels make the most noise

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The sound of birds tweting happily away is one of the most beautiful this world has to offer. The singing of birds is especially beautiful during the Dawn Chorus and late in the evening just as our feathered friends are preparing to roost for the night. There is, however another kind of tweting which sets my teeth on edge, that of twitter.com.

My objections to Twitter are twofold, first it promotes (not always but often) inanity of the worst kind and, second twitter.com leads people to behave irresponsibly and, on occasions with a blatant disregard to the law.

As regards pointless tweting I really don’t care that Jo Bloggs is having coffee in Mcdonalds or some other restaurant and I smile with disbelief at those who religiously follow Jo Blogg’s tweats. Apart from my concerns regarding those who note all Jo’s tweats I also can’t help thinking that Mr Blogs might enjoy his coffee even more if he didn’t feel the necessity of tweting to all and sundry about his drinking habits.

Of course who people choose to follow is their own concern, It is no business of mine grimace though I may. However of real concern is the irresponsible attitude adopted by some users of Twitter. This was most recently exemplified by approximately 10,000 users of Twitter who either accused a senior member of the British Tory (Conservative) Party of being a paedophile or retweted these wholly false allegations. Given the falsity of the tweats the gentleman in question has, not surprisingly instructed lawyers to sue the tweters in question. As it stands a number of prominent people stand to lose significant sums of money if they are proved to have made the false allegations in question.

Paedophilia is a horrendous crime, however to make baseless allegations concerning innocent individuals is wholly inexcusable. Of course tongues will wag in pubs and other public places and one can not prevent this. However in the case of Twitter baseless accusations can be tweted around the globe to hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of seconds and the names of wholly innocent people become blackened. People who have never in their lives harmed a child have been attacked and, on occasions killed due to wholly baseless rumours regarding them. People need to think rather than jumping on the band wagon and using Twitter to fuel the rumour mill.

When I think of Twitter that phrase of Shakespeare’s springs unbidden into my mind “It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing”.

Having said all that I do use Twitter to promote my blog so I am speaking with something of a fawked tongue. However I am seriously considering closing my Twitter account as I don’t like the ethos which all to often it seems to spawn. Of course there are countless numbers of decent Twitter users but I still don’t like the shallowness which it all to often appears to represent.